A phenomenological study on the lived experiences of families of ICU patients, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Family-centered care of ICU patients is increasingly recommended as it is believed to have effect on family members’ psychosocial status and patient outcomes. Defining the nature and extent of families’ involvement in a given health care environment for different stakeholders is a challenge. Understanding the lived experiences of families of ICU patients would help strategize on how to better engage family members for improved ICU care processes and outcomes. Objectives The aim of this study is to explore the lived experiences of families of patients in the ICUs of hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods The study adopted a qualitative approach and a phenomenological research design. In-depth interviews were conducted with twelve (12) family members who were purposively sampled from two government hospitals and four private hospitals. Thematic approach with the application of hermeneutic circle of interpretation was applied to understand the meanings of their experiences. Results The study revealed the following major themes: financial burden, challenge in decision making, shattered family integrity and expectations, information and communication gap between family members and health professionals, lack of confidence in the service delivery of hospitals, social pressure against patient families, and families being immersed in an unfriendly environment. Though they do not explicitly mention it to the health care tram, further interpretation of the main themes elucidated that family’s need the intensive care process be cut shorter irrespective of the outcome of the patient condition. Conclusion The study gave an insight on the multiple and interrelated challenges faced by families of ICU patients admitted in the hospitals of Addis Ababa. Further contextualized interpretation of their experiences revealed that families were somehow in a state of despair and they implicitly need the ICU care for their family member be ended irrespective of the potential clinical consequences on the patient. The philosophy of family-centered care be advocated in hospitals. The study result affirms the need to include family members during nursing assessment of patients in ICUs and also offers the basis for guidelines development on informational support to the families of the patients hospitalized in ICUs.

The lived experience of parents' challenges in a neonatal intensive care unit at Dilchora referral hospital, Ethiopia: a phenomenological study

“…Similarly, this study found that limiting parent-neonate relationships causes di culties for parents. This is supported by other studies that revealed that limited parent-child interaction, restricted visiting hours, or perceived restrictions on parental involvement are the main sources of parental psychological tension and fear in the NICU(18, 19,33,34,40).…”

“…Besides, the separation of the sick baby creates another terror (29), it may be a source of emotional and cognitive burden when communications are inappropriate (17,(30)(31)(32). Studies reveal that limited parent-child interaction, restricted visiting hours, or perceived restrictions on parental involvement are the main sources of psychological stress in the NICU ward of a hospital (18, 19,33,34).…”

The Effect of the Web-Based Communication between a Nurse and a Family Member on the Perceived Stress of the Family Member of Patients with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19: A Parallel Randomized Clinical Trial

“…Inclusion criteria for participants included the family members who were in close relationship and living with or were the main caregivers the patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 [confirmed by a specialist through Chest CT scan or positive PCR and receiving standard medical interventions as well as patients who have been admitted to the ICU for a maximum of 24 hours (The first 24 hours in critically ill patients is the most crucial time for the family members, because they experience a sudden stressful event (Kehali et al, 2020). )] with moderate to severe pulmonary involvement with O 2 saturation of 93 and below in ABGs results, the possibility of communicating via the web, the age range of 18 to 65 years, and no current or previous employment as a member of the health care team.…”

Meta-Síntesis sobre la Experiencia de los Pacientes y sus Familias en la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos

“…Además, se ve aumentada las creencias religiosas al encomendar su salud en manos de Dios y el nivel de ansiedad se ve disminuido cuando el personal de enfermería da una buena atención. Por otra parte, (Kehali et al, 2020) encontraron que en la familia existe una carga financiera por los altos costos de la UCI en hospitales privados lo que generan gran tensión psicológica, ya que los familiares generalmente dejan de trabajar de manera regular y pueden perder su empleo, lo que abruma a la familia en la toma de decisiones e interrumpe las rutinas del hogar. Se menciona también que el apoyo y la atención por parte del personal de salud solo va dirigida a satisfacer las necesidades del paciente, sin considerar al familiar lo que provoca un impacto en la calidad de atención.…”

“…Estos factores incluyen en las emociones, la religiosidad, aspectos económicos, la comunicación, el apoyo emocional y la relación que mantiene con el personal de salud. Estos hallazgos concuerdan con los estudios realizados por (Santiago & Vargas, 2015), (Kehali et al, 2020) y (Corrêa et al, 2021).…”